Not Technically Coffee, But: The Kentucky Coffeetree

Kentucky's not all juleps, derbies, and bluegrass: It's also the home to a little corner of the not-quite-coffee world with a lovely native (sort of) botanical contribution, the Kentucky coffeetree.

Grown in a swath of North America that starts in Canada and extends down to the tree's namesake state, the coffeetree was Kentucky's official plant for nearly 20 years before it was unseated of the honor by the tulip poplar tree. (Come on—a poplar?? How pedestrian, if similarly undercaffeinated.)

A bushy, long-lived tree that is classified as a rare species, the coffeetree is a strange choice both as an ornamental plant and as a coffee substitute. The former is peculiar because the plants drop most of their leaves in the early fall, often remaining bare for upwards of six months out of every year. The latter is suspect because when not fully roasted, the "pods" that grow on the tree's thick branches are toxic.

In times of extreme poverty, however, coffee lovers are often forced to be somewhat intrepid and daring in their substitutions, and this is one of many examples where folks have made do to make brews. Described as making a pungent, bitter brew, the pods are widely considered inferior even to other coffee alternatives like chicory and toasted barley.

For over a decade, Meister has lived a double life as both a writer and a coffee professional—though she has yet to figure out which is her Dr. Jekyll side and which Mr. Hyde. Her day job is as a member of the customer support team for Counter Culture Coffee, and she has written and/or edited for The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Slashfood.com, Time Out NY, BUST Magazine, Barista Magazine, and Chickpea Magazine in addition to her work with this fine site. On her own, she blogs about cooking adventures (and misadventures) at The Nervous Cook, and about learning to love the long run at Running While Smiling.
She, her husband, and their dog share a too-small Chelsea apartment that's stuffed to the gills with books, vintage clothes, and a whole lot of tchotchkes.